I Chose Liberty - Ludwig von Mises Institute

102 I Chose Liberty: Autobiographies of Contemporary Libertarians
alderman, or other local political “office holder” was to accept bribes, pass laws and regulations
that would financially benefit you and your friends, hand out “do-nothing” patronage
jobs to friends and family, or plunder the treasury. Sound familiar? That is what government
was for, and everyone knew it. Our politicians may have been a gang of crooks, but
they were not liars and propagandists.
As my education progressed, I read more and more literature about how government
supposedly existed to serve “the public interest,” to cater to “the will of the majority,” to
“save the earth,” “help the poor,” “feed the hungry,” and other absurdities, which created
in me a sense of indignation over the blizzard of lies thrown at us by the government and
the educational and media establishments.
Almost all of the adult males that I knew growing up were second-generation immigrants
from Italy, Russia, or Poland who worked very hard all their lives as laborers, tradesmen,
or small merchants. They all had a great work ethic because they and their families
were so thankful to have the opportunities that America afforded them. With the advent
of the “Great Society” welfare programs in the 1960s, all of these men became deeply
resentful of the growing presence of young, able-bodied men and women who were signing
up for the dole and receiving free lunches, free university educations for their children, and
other handouts at their expense. It was grossly unjust, and it was also obvious to all that
the welfare state was causing human degradation by destroying the work ethic and breaking
up families. I can still recall how, in the late 60s, my older brother’s best friend divorced
his wife, not because they wanted to separate, but because they could collect a larger welfare
check that way since they had a child.
My older brother was mugged once during the ’60s and suffered a laceration of his
head. The police arrested the culprit but the judge refused to convict him because—and I
can still recall his words—that would “create racial tension” in the city. “These people must
be handled with kid gloves,” is exactly how he put it. In the 1960s, government was busy
destroying the work ethic, the family, and the criminal justice system as well.
I was born in 1954, and only became eligible for the draft as the Vietnam War was
ending, but I was old enough to witness how the warfare state disrupted or ruined the lives
of some of my older friends and relatives. One older neighbor, who was a great natural
athlete and destined to be an NFL quarterback or wide receiver, fled to Canada to avoid
the draft and never made much of himself. He had the same kind of athletic ability as Joe
Namath, Joe Montana, Tony Dorsett, and Dan Marino, who all grew up within 35 miles
of my hometown. There’s obviously something in the water there.
Some of my friends became addicted to drugs by polluting their bodies with LSD and
other hard drugs for weeks or months prior to their military induction physicals in hopes
of flunking them. Others went to Vietnam and returned with grisly stories of mass killing,
but most could not bring themselves to speak a word about their experiences. Their very
silence spoke volumes, however.
Quite a few people I know got married in order to avoid the draft. At the time, married
men still had a deferment. Most of these marriages turned out to be disastrous.
So, I hated government by the time I was 18, at which point I entered college and
discovered some of the libertarian literature that began to put it all in perspective. During